Urban Shield Opponents to Demand End to Federal Funding of Annual Police Training Held in Pleasanton

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Members of the Stop Urban Shield Coalition plan to demand that San Francisco leaders reject further funding of Urban Shield training during a San Francisco Budget and Finance Committee meeting Wednesday morning.

Urban Shield, which is the nation's largest first-responder exercise, is held each year at the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton. Police say it provides training for natural disasters as well as man-made disasters such as explosions, mass shootings and terrorism.

Opponents refer to the training as "police war games” and claim the U.S. Department of Homeland Security-funded program has exacerbated militarization and the violence of policing.

"The Stop Urban Shield Coalition is urging Supervisors to make an amendment to the legislation that would remove Urban Shield from any funding application, and instead commit San Francisco to prioritize investment in genuine community preparedness and emergency response that does not depend on militarized SWAT training and tactics," a coalition spokesperson said in a statement.

In 2016, 23 protesters were arrested for civil disobedience outside the Urban Shield training in Pleasanton. Several hundred demonstrators congregated around the fair gates in protest of the annual training. Some of them formed a human chain, locking hands inside large pipes, across the gates.

Related:

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• Noise Protest Held at Santa Rita Jail Thursday
• 23 Arrested Following March, Rally Protesting Urban Shield

Photo courtesy Autumn Johnson/ Patch from 23 Arrested Following March, Rally Protesting Urban Shield